Sarah Payne CBE

Chair of the Board of Trustees

Sarah joined the Prison Service’s graduate scheme after studying modern languages at university. She spent 24 years working in the Prison Service, then moved to lead a policy unit in the Home Office’s policing directorate.

She has worked as a regional commissioner of the prison and probation service, the Chief Executive of a charity, the Chief Executive of Wales Probation and, prior to retirement, was a Director in the Ministry of Justice with operational responsibility for prisons and probation services in Wales.

Since retiring Sarah has taken on a range of advisory and voluntary roles with a focus on health and all aspects of justice. She was a member of the Wales Justice Commission and of the advisory panel for the Lammy Review on the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people caught up in the criminal justice system. She is a trustee of the Children’s Society and an independent advisor to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the security arrangements in the three high secure hospitals.